My Wall of Lies
by Kumkwat
Summary: Rose wants to have a normal life, but she knows she never will.It's a race to live everyday and she's tired of running. When bad turns to worse Rose learns what it means to lose everything when you have absolutely nothing.- this has nothing to do with VA!
1. Chapter 1

**_Never look back and don't ever go back, if you want to live._**

**_This is what I taught myself exactly one year, four months,_**

**_and nine days ago. I've taught myself a lot of stuff, but this is_**

**_the most important .Everyday I live in fear of him coming to_**

**_get me to take me back, and every day I wake up screaming_**

**_from the memories._**

*panting* sweat trickled down my face. It was just a dream.

"At least I didn't wake up screaming today" I said to myself.

"Yea. The first time in a month, you seem to be doing better. " Said John hearing me as he walked into the bedroom.

"The dreams aren't getting better. Neither am I. I just wake up before I scream." I replied tiredly. "I wish I didn't dream when I go to sleep"

"I wish you didn't scream when you wake up, but you don't always get what you want."

"Ha-ha."

"I never said it was funny."

"Neither did I."

"You laughed."

"Your point?"

"You thought it was funny."

"But I never said it was funny."

"You implied it."

"So?"

"Never mind."

"One for Ro. Zero for John."

He just laughed and shook his head. "You are so weird Rose." He said.

"Am not and don't call me Rose. It's a girly name." I said indignantly. Which made him laugh even harder. "Just shut-up." I said.

"Make me."

"I will."

"Will not."

"Hide and watch."

John made a funny face at me, and I finally gave in and laughed. "What's the score now?" He asked laughing "One for Ro and one for John?"

"Don't rub it in."

"Wouldn't think of it."

"Of course not."

"Hurry up and get ready for school. I don't want you late again."

"Do I have to go to school? There's no point we'll move soon anyway."

"Yes, no arguing. Just because we're on the run doesn't mean you don't have to go to school."

"But –"

"I said no arguing," replied John giving me a stern look.

I reluctantly got ready and left. On the way to school I thought about skipping. Then decided not to, life was hard enough with out John mad at me.

The school bell interrupted my thoughts and I realized I was late. John's going to kill me I thought. Might as well skip. So I did.

I had been wandering for a few hours, in and out of alleys, looking for good hiding spots. When I saw John walking down the road. I dove back in to the alley and behind a trashcan, praying John hadn't seen me.

When he walked past I breathed a sigh of relief. After waiting a few minutes to make sure the coast was clear, I stood up. The monet I stood up a hand gripped my shoulder. "Why aren't you at school?" asked a voice cold as ice, and hard as steel.

John.

He spun me around to face him. His face was murder. I was in big, no not big, enormous trouble. "You disobeyed me." He said in a strained voice, obviously trying to control his anger.

"Yea, about that." I said "I was late and—"

"No excuses." Said John holding up his hand. He took my arm, led me to the truck, and told me to get in.

"John," I began nervously as we drove.

"Don't say a single word Rose." Said John.

"But—"

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say right now Rose Ann Roberts!" John yelled. The drive home was silent and uncomfortable.

When we got home I sat at the kitchen table but John just paced around the room. After a few minutes of silence John stopped pacing and looked at me. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked.

"Look I'm sorry."

"Being sorry doesn't change the fact that you skipped school. That you disobeyed me." He shouted.

"It doesn't matter."

"It doesn't matter? It does matter. School matters. Obeying me matters."

"No it doesn't. School is stupid. All they teach at school is crap, and you would know that if you stopped acting like a stupid freaking retard!" I shouted jumping to my feet and pushing him. Then like someone turned on a vacuum inside me all my rage and anger left me, as I realized what I had said and done. My eyes dropped to the floor no longer able to meet his. "I-I-"

SLAP!

I hit the wall from the sheer force of the slap. I slid to the ground as John walked towards me. When he was in front of me he crouched down. "Look at me." He said. I forced myself to look him in the eyes. "Don't you dare talk or act like that to me ever again? Understand?"

"Y-y-yes sir." I stammered.

"Good." He stood up, got some paper, pencils, and the laptop and set them on the kitchen table. He picked up the chair I knocked over, and set it up right. "Get up and come over here and sit down." He said gesturing towards the spot he had set up. I picked myself up off the ground, walked over there, and sat down. "Since you think that all they teach at school is crap. You can write a thousand word essay about what you think they should teach at school."

"What! Why?"

"Because I said so, and it has to be done by eight tonight."

"But it's one thirty."

"Then you should have plenty of time," said John. Then he picked his book up off the table, sat down on the couch, and began to read. He looked up about five minutes later, and seeing I hadn't written a thing he said, "Start writing. Time waits for nobody you know." and went back to reading.

What am I going to do? I thought. I suck at writing. What am I going to write about? After thinking some more I decided to draw pictures. I drew for a few hours till dinnertime when John handed me a sandwich and a glass of water.

What am I going to do about the essay? I thought after eating. Maybe John won't ask for it. I thought and began to relax. I started to draw again. I drew picture after picture, and before I knew it. It was eight o'clock. At 8:02 John put down his book, walked over to the kitchen table, and sat down across from me. "Let me see the essay." John said holding out his hand.

"Ummmmm," I said. "I didn't do it."

"What do you mean you didn't do it? If you didn't do it what have you been doing for the past six and a half hours?" Asked John raising his voice. He grabbed the stack of pictures I had drawn, and began to look at them. "Pictures? You drew pictures for six and a half hours?" John shouted.

"You know I'm not good at writing and I couldn't focus." I said looking at the floor. When I looked up John looked like he wanted to hit me again. The silence was overwhelming but I knew better then to talk when John was like this. The silence went on for a few more seconds till John sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Just go to bed." He said to me. I got up, grabbed some pajamas, and went into the bathroom. As I changed I saw the bruise forming on my cheek and hpoed it wouldn't be there in the morning. I brushed my teeth, got into my sleeping bag on the floor in the bedroom, and just lied there. After a few minutes I heard the front door shut and the car start. You're probably wondering why I'm sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag. The answer is that there isn't a bed. Why there isn't a bed I don't know.

Since I have nothing better to do I might as well tell you about John and me. Starting from the beginning, before John and I got here. First things first, my full name is Rose (Ro for short) Ann Roberts. I'm eleven years, four months, and nine days old right now. It'll be ten days in the morning. I have a really long brown braid that ends below my waist, blue eyes, and I'm four foot nine. John's full name is John Peter Roberts. He is twenty-one years, five months, and nine days old right now. He's ten years and one month older then me, and he's my older brother. He has brown hair and blue eyes like me and is five foot eleven. We've been on the run since my tenth birthday. In some ways I'm glad we ran, but I was sad to leave my friends.

I never had a mother, she died when I was born, and Daddy hated me because of it. He blamed me for her death, and everything that went wrong after her death. I could clearly see he wished I had died instead whenever I looked in his eyes. John told me there used to be love in his eyes, but now there's only hatred, anger, and rage. Life was far from great. In fact life was terrible, but somehow I kept waking up every the morning and moving on. There were days Daddy ignored me and days I could barely stand when he was through with me.

John taught me to never give up, and to hold on to what I had. He taught me how to fight, gymnastics, to always have hope even when nobody else does, and how to stay strong even when I was to weak to stand. I learned skills normal people never dreamed of learning. I know the true meaning of being hungry, what it means to be scared, and what pain is.

So here we are now. In a small house with only one bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and one bedroom with no bed. We rented the house since we can only stay in one place for so long. We're always moving, never looking back just running from a past that never leaves our minds. If you're constantly on the run you need to learn to follow orders. I'm constantly on the run, so I should be good at following orders, right? Wrong. I could excel at the hardest thing in the world, but for some reason I can't follow orders. I guess that's just the way I roll. The end.

I close my eyes and fall into a dreamless sleep for the first time ever.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Get up." John shouted from the kitchen. I jerked awake.

"I'm up." I replied groggily, and went back to sleep. John must've realized I wasn't up, because he came in about five minutes after I said I was up, and started to kick me awake. "What?" I asked tiredly

"It's time to get up." He said.

"Uhhhhhh. Go away."

"When I say get up it means now, not later."

"Nice to know." I replied closing my eyes. I think John got the message I wasn't going to get up 'cause he left. I was still congratulating myself for getting rid of him when he walked back in, this time carrying something. The next thing I knew something unbelievably cold was being poured on me. I screamed and jumped up.

"What the crap!" I shouted

John just looked at me and smiled. I had known I would pay for last night, but that wasn't what I had expected. He held up the bucket, "I decided to try something new." I must have looked really stupid, because John burst out laughing, and walked out of the room. I grabbed some clothes, a towel, and went to have shower, a hot shower.

"Why did you pour freezing water on me?" I asked as I sat down at the table after taking a long, hot shower. "You could have blown a blow horn in my ear, or I don't know. Why freezing water?"

"I thought it would be funny, and it was."

"No it wasn't."

"I thought it was funny." John said laughing as he handed me a plate of eggs. Then he suddenly stoped and I wondered why. When I looked up I saw he was staring at my face. He gently lifted my chin and looked at it some more. "I didn't know I hit you so hard." He said quietly.

"I've been though worse, and it doesn't look that bad." I said looking away. John just frowned but he didn't say anything else. I hoped he wouldn't say anything later as he began to eat.

"You actually have to go to school today. No skipping, understand?" John told me after a few bites of eggs. I just sighed.

"Do I absolutely have to?" I asked.

"Yes and absolutely no arguing." John replied firmly, giving me a look that said if I skipped, yesterday would look like heaven. I just sighed again. I grabbed my backpack, and walked outside.

"Bye." I said as I shut the door. I walked down the road dreading the thought of going to school. School wasn't my thing; I was the new kid with no friends that nobody knew. I was different and smarter then everybody else. I ignored everybody when they called me names unless they called me something really insulting. Then I usually punched them in the face, sometimes knocking them unconscious, and getting myself in trouble.

I walked into the school building and towards my locker. Pushing through the crowd of seventh and eighth graders to my locker at the end of the hallway where the six grade classrooms were, I noticed that Dominick was following me. He was copying every move I made. Dominick is, well different. His goal in life is to make my life miserable. Which will never happen. He was big for his age, muscle big, not fat. He's a bully and picks on everyone but he loves picking on me the most.

I made it to my locker, and opened it. While I was getting my English book Dominick appeared beside me. "What you doing retard?" asked Dominick pushing me and smiling.

"Nichts Drecksack." I replied in German walking away, leaving him behind confused. "I said 'nothing scumbag'." I called over my shoulder. I went into the classroom and sat down at my desk. Dominick came in after me and walked up to my desk looking like he wanted to beat me up. The bell rang and the teacher glided in saving him from doing anything stupid like starting a fight with me and of course losing. If you had asked anybody in the school who would have won the fight, If there had been a fight between Dominick and me they would have said Dominick, because he was a red belt in karate, but they wouldn't have known that I had had years of fighting and knew how to ignore pain.

English was annoying because Dominick kept throwing stuff at me, but my other classes went smoothly. Eventually lunch came around and I was hungry. I came out of the lunch line with soup and macaroni and cheese on my plate, today is an okay day I thought looking for a place to sit down. I saw a secluded spot in the back and started walking towards it. I was almost to the seat I had spotted when Dominick stood up in front of me and flipped my tray splattering soup and macaroni and cheese all over me.

"Teach you to call me scumbag." He said. Shaking with rage and humiliation I looked him square in the eyes and punched him in the face, breaking his nose. He stumbled back cursing and holding his nose. It took him a moment to recover, but when he did he charged full force with fists up. I blocked the first couple of punches with ease then started to throw some punches and kicks of my own making contact unlike him.

The fight lasted about two minutes; Dominick didn't lay a finger on me. The fight ended when I finally knocked him unconscious, but he didn't go easy. He is one tough cookie I thought when the fight was over. Some teachers and the nurse were now bent over Dominick trying to wake him. Good job I thought to myself as a big booming voice said, "What's going on here." The principal.

"This sir is what we call a fight or what was a fight now that there's a winner and a loser." I said.

"And who is responsible for this fight?" The principal asked through clenched teeth.

"The unconscious kid over there." I answered examining my nails and pointing at Dominick.

"Who knocked him unconscious?"

"Me." I replied happily.

"You're coming with me." The principal said grabbing my arm. He took me into his office and told me to sit down. So I did (it wasn't a very comfortable chair though). "Why did you knock Dominick Tyler unconscious?" He asked.

"He wouldn't stop trying to hit me. I had to stop him."

"Why were you fighting in the first place?"

"He flipped my tray getting soup and macaroni and cheese all over me on purpose."

"Why did he do that?"

"I called him scumbag earlier."

"So, I'm supposed to believe that you called Dominick scumbag, he flipped your tray on purpose, then you punched him, he tried to punch you back, and you knocked him unconscious to stop him?"

"Yes."

"Why should I believe you? Dominick is captain of the wrestling team, why should I believe that a small skinny girl beat him up? Why should I believe a single word that you said?"

"Because I have soup and macaroni and cheese all over me and right now Dominick Tyler in unconscious."

"How do I know that you didn't flip your tray when a fight started between Dominick and some other kid, and say that you knocked Dominick unconscious?"

"Why would I do that?"

"To look cool. To become popular."

"I like being invisible. I'm free being invisible. Nobody questions what I do because they don't notice me. I can be me and not be scared someone will see me."

"Nobody wants to be invisible—"

"Sir he's here," a voice interrupted, the principal pressed a button and said to let him in. I looked at him confused. The principal just smiled. Then John walked into the room. I closed my eyes and wished with all my might that this wasn't happening, but what can I say not all wishes come true.

"Hello? May I ask why I'm here?"

"Yes, Rose won't tell us the truth about a fight. I thought you might be able to help us with the situation."

"I'll try."

"Thank-you. Oh, have a seat." John sat down beside me and tried to catch my eye, but I crossed my arms and refused to look at him. John would be mad no matter what the principal decided had happened. Even if the principal couldn't see it, John was mad now. I decided I'd be mad too. Just in case crossing my arms wasn't enough I scowled.

"What isn't Rose saying that you would like to know?" Asked John.

"I'd like to know how the fight started, who started it, and who knocked Dominick Tyler unconscious. That's it, but she keeps lying." Said the principal looking helpless.

"I haven't told you a single lie." I said quietly to the principal. "Dominick started the fight and I ended it."

"And how did this fight start?" John asked looking at me.

"Dominick flipped my tray of food on me." I replied still refusing to look at him.

"Well that answers one question for both of us." John chuckled looking at the principal. "How the fight started for you, and how Ro got food all over herself for me."

"You're acting as if you couldn't care less about the fight Mr. Roberts. Ro is a menace; she belongs in juvenile hall. And you, what are you like seventeen? You can't seriously be her guardian; you're probably not even related to her!" The principal yelled outraged. That made me really mad (not to mention John!). I mean I get where he's getting the not related thing: John's tall, I'm short; His eyes are a piercing blue, mine are a soft blue; He's drop dead gorgeous and I'm, well I'm invisible.

John stood up, put his hands on the edge of the desk, and leaned in real close.

"I'm twenty-one thank-you very much, and I'm proud to say that I am Ro's guardian and her brother." John said quietly in a voice I hoped he would never use on me. His eyes were cold and hard, his gaze cutting straight through the principal. Suddenly I snapped; this sort of thing happened to me wherever we went, and I just couldn't take it anymore. I stood up.

"I can't do this anymore John."

"Where are you going?" called John as I ran out the door.

"Anywhere but here." I shouted. Then I burst out of the school and sped past the ambulance. I didn't know what to do, where to go. The only thing I did know was that I was tired of running, being scared all the time, pretending, not having a home, and holding on to something that wasn't there. But most of all I was tired of being me.

I headed to the house to pick up some stuff and change. I might be rash but I'm not stupid. When I got there I went inside I changed, picked up my bag, and started packing. I put two changes of clothes (a dress, and street clothes.), a hundred dollars, three good pocketknives, ten Ramón noodle packages, my bible, and a first aid kit. I walked out the door for the last time. I wasn't coming back, not this time.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I ran by night and slept by day for four weeks, stopping only to eat or rest till I got to where I was going to settle some scores. Without John I was more noticeable. I paid for what food I could afford and stole the rest. My father's people knew I was on the run and were looking for me so I had to be extra careful. I was running for my life but not just for survival. I had things to steal back, people to kill, scores to settle.

Tonight's score to settle was Mr. Samuel B. Wright. He wasn't going to survive the night. Let's just say injecting stuff into me to see how much I scream at the pain is not on my okay list. Samuel Wright is a scientist but not a good one. He definitely wasn't discovering a cure for cancer; in fact he was probably inventing a way to give people cancer.

Tonight he was having a party (Why anyone would want to party with him? I have no idea.), to celebrate the cure he invented to well cure the new virus, Lyzcinthinea. Nobody but a few scientists with some rich people thrown in and me knew he was the one who created Lyzcinthinea. Personally I think he's a low-down-scum-sucking-no-good-dirt bag, but that's just my opinion. Then again I'm probably not the only one who thinks that, so I'm going to say it's a fact.

Well getting to the dirt bag was going to be harder than I thought. The party was for adults only and I could never pass as an adult, I'm just eleven you know. Lucky for me Mr. Wright has a ventilation system running through his mansion, and I have a way to get in it.

I know you're thinking that this isn't real, people sneaking through ventilation systems only happens in movies, plus nobody has ventilation systems. But I swear it's true. He really does have a ventilation system running through his mansion. He may be the smartest scientist of his time, but he's still the biggest idiot to walk this earth… ever.

So back to sneaking in; I walked to the back of the mansion towards the dumpsters near the kitchens. I climbed up on top of a dumpster, opened the vent above it, and crawled inside. I crawled for what seemed like hours, hitting dead ends a couple times, till I was above Mr. Wright's office. I almost missed it, but heard his voice before passing completely over it. I looked through the vent and saw him hanging up the phone, he looked extremely pissed off. I got out my knife and began to silently remove the vent covering. I was about to drop through the hole when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in", Mr. Wright called. I quickly replaced the vent covering and watched. What I saw next blew my mind.

"No!" I breathed. John. They had John. He was in-between to massive guys, each one holding an arm, with his hands tied behind his back. He had a black eye, his nose was broken, and he was bloody and bruised everywhere. They walked him closer to the desk and forced him on to his knees. I was so engrossed with the fact that they had John I didn't realize that someone else had come into the room.

I looked over as I heard the door shut and stifled a scream as I recognized who it was. I was looking at my father, the man of my nightmares and past. He was the only person I was truly afraid of (except John when he was mad at me.), on this earth. He walked over to John and kicked him in the stomach, hard. John made a sound the breath had been knocked out of him, which it probably had.

"Is this room sound proof?" asked my father looking at Mr. Wright.

"It is Mr. Roberts.", answered Mr. Wright.

"Good.", my father replied. He turned back to John and motioned for the guys holding John to go wait outside. "Don't worry he'll behave." He said and the guys left. When the door was shut he grabbed John by his hair and forced him to him in the eye. "Where is she?" He spat at him.

"Who?" John asked innocently.

"You know exactly who!" My father yelled as he punched John in the mouth. John just shook his head and said ow.

"I don't know where she is and even if I did I wouldn't tell." John sneered.

"We'll see about that." My father replied. He walked to the door, opened it, and told the guys to come back in. "You," he said pointing to the guy on John's right, "untie his hands, then pin his right to his side and keep him still." Then he turned to the guy on John's left. "You hold out his left arm and keep it straight. Careful both of you, he's going to fight."

When the guys had done what he had told them to do, he reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out a green syringe. A small whimper escaped from me as I remembered the incredible pain that happened when the syringe was injected. I had been a lab rat when they tested to see what it did. They had tested it on lots of people but I had been the only one to survive.

"No!" John shouted.

"Yes." My father replied. "I've decided to let Mr. Wright inject this into you. He will inject a little at a time until you tell us where Rose is or it's all gone. Sadly I can't stay and watch you scream in pain. I'm just too busy." With that said he walked out the door letting it shut with a slam. John continued to shout and struggle to no avail. Mr. Wright stood up, picked up the syringe, and walked over to John. I quickly removed the vent covering and lightly jumped on to the desk making no sound. Mr. Wright was in front of me so he didn't see me, and the guys holding John were to busy trying to hold John still to notice me, but John saw me. He instantly went still and shut-up, his eyes wide in amazement.

"That's better." Mr. Wright said smiling.

"Yes, that is. All that noise hurt my ears." I said surprising everyone but John. Mr. Wright spun around to face me and I kicked him in the face hard enough to stop him but not hard enough to knock him unconscious. I flipped over him, pulled out my knife, and stabbed the guy on John's right in the heart, and the one on John's left in the neck multiple times. Then I walked over to Mr. Wright and kicked the gun he had gotten off the desk out of his hand. I picked up the syringe he'd dropped and injected it into him. While he was screaming in pain I grabbed the gun off the floor and handed it to John. "Let's go."

I hopped up on to the desk and helped John up onto the desk. John then helped me get into vent hole.

"Hand me the vent covering, please."

"'K." John handed me the covering and I laid it beside me. I offered my hand to help John up. He took it and jumped and I pulled him up into the vent. After replacing the vent covering I motioned for John to be quiet and follow me. Retracing my steps we finally got outside. Once outside I realized John looked really hungry.

"Stay here." I told John.

"Where are you going?" John asked grabbing my arm.

"Don't worry I'll be right back. I promise." John still looked unsure but he let go of my arm. I opened the door to the kitchens and went in. Luckily nobody was around. I grabbed five rolls, eight apples, four oranges, two tomatoes, three packs for beef jerky, and two water bottles from the pantry and stuffed everything into my bag. I slipped back out side and handed John the bag. "Knock yourself out."

John opened the bag and let out a low whistle. He took an apple and a water bottle, and then handed the bag back to me. I took the bag and got myself an apple too.

* * *

The man stood behind the desk looking out the window. "Everything went as planed I assume?"

"Yes sir. She fell for it." replied the man at the door.

"Perfect." He said smiling.

"There is one more thing." The man hesitated, "She injected the Enzilm serum into Mr. Wright." The man expected him to be angry, but much to his surprise he just laughed.

"Even better."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

We weaved in and out of alleys, sure to lose anyone following us, straight into the heart of the city. I led John to an old abandoned building. Making sure the coast was clear I went inside, John following me. We went upstairs to the room I was currently occupying.

"We can't stay here. This is one of the first places they'll look." John said as he sat down on the bed.

"No, we're safe. This place might look old and rundown but underneath it's techno city." I replied smiling.

"Pete, did they follow us?" I called out randomly.

"No." answered a static voice. John jumped in surprise and I laughed at him.

"Don't worry John that's just Pete the tech dude." I said. Then Pete came in. Just so you don't go around thinking Pete's nerdy looking, he's not. He's medium height, with a blonde crew cut that looks good on him. He has brown eyes and medium build; all together average looking but he's really smart. He went to collage when he was fourteen, but dropped out because the system wasn't meant for him.

"So you're John." Pete said plopping down in a chair across the room. "I feel so sorry for you, having to live with this pain in the butt." He continued with a look at me. I threw an orange at him, hard and it hit him in the head.

"Ow!" Pete exclaimed rubbing his head and sending me dirty looks. "It's a good thing you don't have any cue balls." He muttered sending me more dirty looks. I pretended not to hear him and got up to go get John some medical supplies and a few rags, (he was bleeding on my bed).

* * *

John looked at Pete curiously as Ro walked out the door. He was young but older than himself by a few years, and he held a look of intelligence in his eyes that far surpassed his own "So… How old are you?"

"Twenty-six."

"Cool, I'm twenty-one."

"I know." John looked at him a little confused. "I know a lot about you and Ro. More than I'd like but because of that knowledge I was able to track Ro down and help her, even though what she does isn't exactly my taste."

John smiled at him, he had worried about Ro since the moment she had left, it was good to know someone had been looking after her, even if she didn't need that much looking after.

* * *

When I walked back into the room John and Pete were smiling at each other. I didn't know why they were smiling but I had a feeling they had been talking about me. "Okay so if y'all are done chatting," I said handing the stuff I'd gotten to John, "I'd like to know how you got caught."

John looked at me and let out a quiet sigh.

Then began his tale, "At first I wasn't sure what had happened and the principal was even more confused than I was. I thought about going after you but I knew it wouldn't do any good. I'd never seen you like that before, like something had finally snapped inside of you."

"Something did snap." I said without emotion. John looked at me but I refused to look him in the eye. "Continue."

He was still looking at me but he continued his story. "Well, I went home hoping you would be there but you weren't. It was as if I had known all a long that you weren't coming back, but I prayed that wasn't true, and when you didn't come home for a few days I finally had to admit you weren't coming back this time. By then it was too late for me to even have a chance of catching up with you so I went to sleep determined to go after you in the morning, but seeing as it's my life Dad's people had finally caught up with me. The fight was brutal, them ending up with more bruises than me but that didn't last for long..."

John trailed off as if caught up in his own world, then snapped back to reality."Where was I? Wait never mind. One of the men managed to inject something into me and I passed out immediately. I vaguely remember waking up screaming in pain, but I didn't fully wake up until about a week ago. They did some rather unpleasant things to me to find out where you were, but I didn't tell them anything."

"When did Daddy come into the picture?" I asked.

"Last night was the first time I've seen him since we've left." John answered and I noticed he was a little stiff like he was lying. I quickly dismissed the

idea but it was never far from my mind.

"Then I came and saved the day!" I said brightly.

"Yes you did Ro." John replied with a laugh. "Now time to go to bed little one."

"What? But it's only like eleven thirty." I cried, "And I'm not little."

"I know, way past your bedtime, and I hate to admit this, honey, but you are little; at least compared to me." John said as he gently lifted me out of the chair.

"I'm having second thoughts about saving you." I muttered when he set on the bed. He gave me a look and I decided to stop talking.

"Stop complaining Ro." Pete interjected "You know you would've been in bed long before this if you hadn't saved John." I turned the other way so I wouldn't have to see him smirking but it didn't help much. After Pete and John had left I just laid there thinking about what John had been through, how terrible it had been, but stopped because it was bringing back some uncomfortable memories. I just couldn't go to sleep so I got up.

I walked over to the closet and opened the doors. There I tried to find the secret opening without a light. When I found it I opened it and walked into a room of the future.

* * *

Downstairs Pete was busy showing John wher he would be sleeping when his watch started to beep.

"What's that?" John asked.

"Ro being stupid." He replied with a sigh. He walked over to the box on the wall and pressed a button and opened his mouth to speak.

* * *

_"Nice try kiddo. Get back to bed now."_ A vioce said interupting my thoughts.

"Huhhhhh. How do you always know?" I asked a little annoyed.

"I'm smarted than you, and hooked up the secret door to signal me whenever it was opened." Pete retorted. I muttered quiet a few curse words and some very uncomplimentary things about Pete and his technology in Russian.

"Darling, you're on speaker and I speak Russian and by the looks of it so does John." Pete interrupted me again. "I told you cussing would not be tolerated in this house in any language, and I'd better not hear it again unless you want a bruise the shape of my hand on your face."

"Crap!" I thought. I wasn't supposed to say cuss words, much less know them and ecspeacily in any other language besides English.

"Now go to bed. If I have to come up there you'll regret it." Pete said with a hint of warning in his voice. Sadly I didn't heed the warning and kept going.

"You're not in bed, why do I have to go to bed?" I asked.

"Because I'm older than you and I said so." He replied

"I can do anything I want to." I said without thinking.

"Wanna bet?" Pete said, daring me to say yes. I stayed quite. "That's what I thought. Now get in bed and if I have to tell you again I'll be paying you a visit and it will not be a friendly one, Kapesh?"

"Got it." I answered defeated for the night. I slowly walked to my bed and sat on it. I sat there until the music of the city lured me to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Wake up." A voice said as somebody walked into the room. I groaned. I was sore all over and realized I had fallen asleep sitting up and had fallen back.

"F*** you." I murmured trying to go back to sleep. Always a man of his word Pete walked over to me and brought his hand down across my face hard enough to leave a bruise there for at least a few hours. "Ow!" I cried rolling off the bed and cradling my cheek.

"I told you about cussing and next time I'll hit you a whole lot more and on other places." Pete said clearly meaning what he'd stated. Understanding what he meant by _"Other places." _perfectly I clamped my mouth shut with both hands, not trusting myself not to respond with more cuss words or a smart-alecky comment. I simply nodded my head implying that I understood. "Good. Now get changed and a bath might be good." He said giving me a look. I really wanted to reply to that but thought better of it.

"What time is it?" I asked instead.

"Eight ten." My eyes grew wide and I felt a surge of anger. Pete saw like look on my face and just chuckled as he left the room. "Take a bath, and breakfast is at eight thirty. Don't be late." He called heading down the stairs.

"Hughhhhh!" I really hate him sometimes, I mean eight ten! I am definitely not a day person, I came alive at night. The hours of the thief. Which is exactly what I am. I steal everything from paperclips to secrets and lives.

I gathered some stuff to take a shower and headed for the bathroom grumbling the whole way. But I didn't quite make it without running into, of course John.

"What are you grumbling about?" He asked his hair still wet from the shower he'd just taken.

"It's eight in the morning, what do you think?" I replied sarcastically.

"Well someone's a little cranky." He responded almost to himself. He lifted my chin noticing something new. "What happened to you?" He asked surveying the new bruise on my face.

"She used some inappropriate language waking up this morning." Pete answered strolling by with part of a computer in his hands. John frowned and looked down at me, turning my face to look at him.

"Is that true?" He inquired with an edge in his voice.

"Maybe." I responded looking the other way.

"Yes or no, not maybe." He said making me look him in the eye again.

"Yes." I said trying to look away, but he held my chin firmly.

"Not again or next time he won't be the only one hitting you." He said with a point at Pete. "Got it?"

"Yes sir." I replied. He let go of me and I went straight into the bathroom and shut the door, almost but not quite slamming. Looking in the mirror I examined my face. The bruise was a little blue in the middle but it would be gone by morning, still everyone would see it today. I looked at it some more then took a shower.

As I walked out of the bathroom the delicious aroma of bacon wafted up to my nose. I love bacon and eggs, no joke. "Mmmmm!" I murmured to myself. I went downstairs and into the kitchen. Seeing bacon and eggs on the table I smiled."Maybe today won't be so bad." I thought pouring myself some apple juice, but of course this is my life, right?

With food on my plate I began eating but slowed down when I saw Pete and John exchanging glances. Pete nodded at John and they turned towards me. John put his hands on the table as if he were about to say something drastic; which I sincerely hoped he didn't.

"Rose we need to talk about some stuff." He began hesitantly. I gestured for him to continue. "Since Dad's resent activity we thought it might be better if you stayed in one place."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Like stay here."

"What!" I almost shouted in outrage. "That'll make it easier for him to find me."

"Now that's not necessarily true. It's the movements that make it easier for him to find us. Besides it would make it easier for us to protect you." He said calmly.

"Pr-pr-protect me!" I stuttered. "I don't need protecting, I can protect myself!"

"Honey, you wouldn't stand a chance against a full grown man. There's no way you could defeat any of Dad's. You're just to small."

That was the last straw. I was small but that didn't mean I was weak. I stood up to angry to speak. With every intention of leaving I headed to the door but John and Pete had other ideas. While John was talking I hadn't noticed that Pete had moved to the opening of the kitchen. He grabbed my arm and I tried to yank it free. On the second tug I managed to get myself free but it was too late by then. John came up from behind and scooped me up. I kicked and screamed but it was useless he was too big and strong for me. It wasn't until I bit him and called him some very mean names that he stopped trying to calm me down. He simply slung me over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and went up stairs.

He threw me on my bed and sat on me, holding both of my hands with only one of his. He grabbed my face, squeezing till I shut my mouth, but I still thought mean thoughts at him.

"Look at me!" He ordered me nearly shouting. I of course did the opposite squeezing my eyes shut. That just made John madder but I didn't care, and just 'cause I could I began to pitch myself up down trying to get John off of me. He didn't budge but he called Pete over to help him. Pete came over, placed his hands on my shoulders and pushed down. John let go of my mouth to get a better grip. As he moved his hand I realized Pete's face very close to mine. I opened my eyes and grinned a devilish grin. Pete realized his mistake too late and I reared up and butted him in the head, making him let go and fall on the floor.

He was spitting curses out left and right sometimes in languages even I didn't know (now that's impressive.) and holding his head in his hands. I was in my own world congratulating myself when the thunderous impacted of John's open palm came down across my face.

My head snapped to the side and I went limp. I took a deep breath, counted to ten, let it out, and did it again. My face hurt a lot, but I didn't make a sound. Tears began to blur my vision, so when John tried to turn my head I jerked away. I didn't want him to see me cry, I didn't want anyone to see me cry, ever.

"Rose," John began softly.

"Please leave." I interrupted trying to keep my voice from cracking. John carefully got off of me, helped Pete to his feet and left, gingerly shutting the door behind him. A few seconds later tears began to stream down my face. I cried silently at first, then getting louder, finally having to cry into my pillow to muffle the sound. It wasn't so much the pain that I was crying it was the fact that John at slapped me at all. Sure he'd slapped me before and I had deserved every single one of those slaps and I knew I deserved the one I had just gotten but for some reason this one had been different. He reminded me to much of Daddy and I'm not invincible.

Eventually my eyelids began slide shut and I struggled to keep them open. When the fight proved futile I gave in praying I was too exhausted to dream and fell asleep.

* * *

Pete was downstairs looking at his forehead. There was going to be a huge bruise there by the end of the hour.

"I ought to bend that child over my knee." He growled

"Feel free to do that, I'm not stopping you, in fact I was thinking the same thing, but you'd better wait till she wakes up." John said on the other side of the room.

"Wakes up?"

"By now she'll have cried herself to sleep and if you go and wake her up I can guarantee you'll come back down with more than just a few bruises."

"What!"

"She's calming herself down, and if you go up there she'll snap for real."

"Oh." Pete said thoughtfully. Rose crying, calming herself down, that didn't sound anything like her but he didn't say anything else. Rose was a strange child.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

A terrible scream filled the air. It didn't bother me and I wondered why, but I felt sorry for whoever was screaming. It sounded as if they were being skinned alive. Suddenly I felt someone shaking me but they seemed so far away. Then pain exploded through my head as someone slapped me on my good cheek.

I woke up angry because someone had slapped me but when I looked up I saw John and Pete looking at me almost scared. John had his hand raised, seeing it I realized he'd been the one who had slapped me and I was about to ask him why he'd hit me when I remembered everything.

I began screaming again, squeezing my head to keep it from splitting open from the pain. I remembered what had happened earlier and everything I had dreamed. It was awful, but the worst part was that it was all true.

Over time I regained enough sense to understand a little of what was happening. I was crying openly now, I didn't care that John and Pete could see the pain was too much. I tried to move and pain erupted all over body making me scream again. I felt someone trying to pick me and I tried to tell them not they would only make it worse, but I couldn't. John sat down with me in his lap and began murmur soft reassurances into my ear. I slowly began to calm down the pain going away at the same pace.

"Shhhhhh. Shhhhhhh, now. Everything will be okay, I promise." He whispered in my ear. I snuggled closer to him as sobs racked through my body. "I love you. He's gone. I'll protect you. I won't let him hurt you. I promise." Now that I could understand him his reassurances were helping me get myself under control more.

When I could talk I tried to tell him I loved him but he just shushed me and said I know.

"Pete hand me that apple juice, please." John said seeing that had returned from fetching something for Ro to drink. John handed me the drink but I couldn't hold it still and spilled it all over him.

"I- I'm sor-r-ry." I stammered when I spilled it.

"Shhhhhh. It's okay." John said gently, putting his finger against my lips. From then on he held the cup and helped me drink it.

When I was completely calm and in control Pete bent down in front of me and helped me back into bed, since I refused to let John carry me. "Why don't try to go back to sleep, it was just a bad dream."

I shook me head vigorously and tried to sit up. Failing to do so I explained why I couldn't go back to sleep. "It wasn't just a bad dream. They were memories, terrible memories, I'd hoped to forget, and if I go back to sleep they'll come back and I won't be able to escape." I said shaking in fear.

"It's okay Rose. Why don't I just stay up here with you," John said soothingly,"Is that okay?" I nodded and he climbed into bed with me. Pete left saying he had stuff he needed to do, but I didn't care. I had John and that was all I needed.

Trying to stay awake was a struggle but John made it easier by telling jokes and stories. Eventually though I just couldn't stay awake any longer. I began to cry, afraid of what I would dream of. John wiped away my tears but I was still afraid.

"Why don't you just go to sleep? I'll stay up here with you and wake you up if you began to have a bad dream. Okay?" John asked, and I accepted snuggling up close to him. I fell fast asleep within a couple of minutes.

* * *

He watched his little sister fall asleep and smiled. What she had to go through was terrible, but he couldn't stop it, only make it a little easier. He moved a few hairs from her face thinking what a beautiful child she was. She was so small compared to him, but at the same time she was so much bigger than him. He wondered how they had gotten caught up in all of this. She would never live a normal life, but then again she'd never been very normal. He just smiled again and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Later he fell asleep in the same position unable to stay awake any longer.

* * *

I woke up completely alert. I cautiously removed John's arms careful not to wake him and quietly crept down to the kitchen. I looked at the clock and saw that it was eleven thirty. I swore under my breath and prayed that I wouldn't be late. I had thirty minutes to get somewhere six miles from here.

I snuck out a back window (The one Pete hadn't rigged.) and started on my way. It was a warm night and the streets I took were mostly empty but I only barely made it to the meeting in time.

"You're late." Elliot growled from the shadows.

"Whatever." I said catching my breath. Elliot slammed me against the wall knocking the breath I had just regained out of me. "Get off of me, bastard." I snarled.

"Looks like the little bunny has an attitude." He said to his buddies smiling a wicked smile. "Maybe we should teach it some manners."

"I've got more manners than you, Elliot." I told him, struggling to get free. He let me go and I fell to the ground with a big "oomph". I stood up and brushed myself off trying to ignore the rest of Elliot's gang laughing.

"Now let's get to business. Did you bring the code?" He asked silencing the gang.

"Of course." I said and held out a white slip of paper with letters and digits on it. He snatched the paper out of my hand and put it in his pocket for safe keeping. He slammed me against the wall again and leaned in real close.

"This better work and if it doesn't I will hunt you down and I will have you begging and pleading for mercy. Is that understood?" I nodded and he set me down again.

"Now for your part of the bargain." I said looking at him expectantly.

"You know I don't think I will, not until I've taught you some manners anyway." He said with a cruel smile. I shuddered and took an involuntary step back. He gestured for some of the gang members to hold me and I prepared myself to fight.

I took the first few down without breaking a sweat, but in the end I lost. They pinned me against the wall and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get loose. Elliot grabbed me by my hair forced me to look up. He punched me in the stomach but I only spat in his face and called him some names.

The beating continued in a similar fashion, him punching me and me responding with nasty comments about him. He kept going till it was too difficult for me to speak. Then he told his friends to let go of me. I slid to the ground trying not to cry out in pain. He bent down low and grabbed my hair again making me look him in the eye.

"Have you learned your lesson yet?" He asked and I nodded. "Perfect. Now I'll tell you what I know trusting that you won't interrupt." I nodded implying that I was ready for the information.

"The man you left with the other night is an informant for Mr. Roberts."

"What?" I interrupted. Elliot gave me a look and punched me in the stomach twice.

"Do not interrupt." He said slowly pronouncing each word clearly. I was in too much pain to speak, but Elliot knew I wouldn't interrupt again. "I have pictures of him talking with Mr. Roberts." He pulled some pictures out of his pocket and showed me. I looked at the pictures and John and Daddy were in all of them, but that couldn't be right. Suddenly I remembered thinking that John was lying when he was telling me how he'd gotten caught. I took a deep breath thinking this couldn't be happening. "He's been working for him for months now."

"Thank-you." I said, (Elliot, I knew was expecting thanks) tears threatening to spill over.

"See you did learn some manners, little bunny." Elliot chuckled. "But that's not all. Their next meeting is three nights away at two A.M., in the alley off of fourth." The gang left, leaving me sitting against the wall ready to cry.

"This can't be true." I told myself over and over again as I walked home, but deep inside I knew it was. I stood in front of the house with all the lights on. I wanted to run far away and never come back but I was tired of running. I was afraid of going in but it was inevitable. I put up my guard determined not to break, took a deep breath and walked up the steps. I stopped at the door but quickly conquered my fear. I opened the door and walked inside, unafraid.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

John jumped to his feet as I entered. "Where the hell have you been?" He roared.

"I had a meeting." I replied completely unfazed by his anger. I'd been expecting it and was prepared to face it. "You were wrong; I can take on a full grown man, with ease, but an entire gang not so much." I shook my head with false regret, infuriating him even more. Pete stormed up to me and grabbed for my arm, but I sidled past him with grace. I hit the floor without knowing why, and quickly rolled away. I jumped up and saw that Pete had tried to grab me again. I'd managed to evade Pete but it came with its own consequences, I groaned and tried not to throw up on the floor. I hit me knees and curled up into a ball, putting pressure on my stomach to ease the pain but it made me want to throw up again.

John walked over to me but I rolled away. Ignoring the pain I popped up again and bolted up the stairs John and Pete close behind. I ran in and out of rooms narrowly avoiding getting caught till I ran down a hallway into a dead end. Thinking fast I ran straight at the corner of the wall, jumping up and hitting the corner with both feet to get a better jump, and flipped over John and Pete, spinning so that when I landed I was facing away from them. I sprinted down the hallway again snatching a tray holding a vase of flowers. Seeing the stairs I got up on the rail and pulling off a move that would leave thousands amazed; I planted my feet on the tray and slid down the banister. I leaped off before hitting the bottom and ran into the kitchen.

I saw the table and hid under there like Matilda did when she was hiding from Miss Trunchbull. I heard John and Pete walk in and prayed they couldn't see my braid that had slipped a little. My luck had run dry though and they walked to the table.

"I wonder if she could be under the table." John said to Pete who was on the other side of the table.

"I don't know. Why don't we find out?" Pete replied and as if they'd rehearsed it they hit the table at the same time, hard. My muscles already strained form earlier gave out and I fell. I barely avoided hitting my face by putting arms in front of it but I hit the floor on my stomach. I muttered some extremely naughty words that would have made a sailor proud and was dragged out from underneath the table.

John flipped me over and unable to stop myself I made a small squeak when he touched my stomach. Wasting no time for games Pete grabbed the bottom of my shirt and I tried to stop him but John took a hold of my arms and held them firmly. I squirmed but it was useless and Pete yanked my shirt up. I hadn't realized how bad it was till I saw the now black and blue bruises that covered my stomach. Pete pulled up a leg of my sweat pants and I saw the bruises that also covered my legs but they weren't quite as bad.

"What happened to you?" John asked surprised.

"I told you, I had a meeting." I said struggling to get away.

"Looks like that meeting didn't go to well." Pete said still looking at my bruises.

"Nah dip Sherlock." I said sarcastically.

"What exactly caused this beating to occur?" John inquired looking me in the eye. I stayed quiet.

"Probably her manners." Pete said jokingly. It had been a casual dig but it hit home. I squirmed a little uncomfortably. John knowing me to well chuckled a little.

"By the looks of it, it probably was." John responded with a look down at me. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down, my breathing had accelerated and it was making my stomach really hurt. "But that doesn't solve the problem of you sneaking out at eleven something at night, doing God knows what."

"What should the punishment be?" Pete asked as John helped me to my feet and marched me into the living room.

"I don't know, I can't think of anything fitting." John answered. I sat down on the couch and John and Pete stood before me with frowns and their arms crossed. Because everyone else was doing it I crossed my arms, and decided to scowl for effect.

"We could make her stay up in her room for the rest of tonight and all of tomorrow, and maybe think about letting her eat dinner." Pete said with a look at John. I snorted. John turned to me.

"What? Do you think we couldn't do that?" I wanted to say duh but thought better of it. "Answer me. I want to know what you think." John had me backed into a corner and he knew it. The only way to get out was to answer but each answer came with its own consequences.

"I don't know." I said uneasily.

"Well come up with an answer. We've got all night." He stressed "all night" intending to stay right there until I answered.

"This is going to take a while." Pete said and went and sat down in a chair. John crouched down and just sat there, his eyes were cold and unforgiving. I let out a silent sigh and closed my eyes trying to come up with an answer with the least amount of consequences. I could feel my mask slipping as I thought. The problem was that I knew they could but saying so be admitting defeat and damage my pride, but saying that they couldn't would end in them proving that they could and a longer more serious punishment, not to mention it was just plain stupid. In the end I wagered there was more at stake than just my pride. I struggled to find a way to word it but John saved me.

"Did you come up with an answer?" John asked sensing that I had. I nodded.

"Well then let's hear it." Pete said suddenly interested. I didn't like being but on the spotlight and was ill at ease but I spoke anyway.

"Well," I began slowly. "You could but it might be little difficult."

"And how would that be?" John asked. I looked at him in surprise.

"Even in defeat I don't go down without a fight." I responded wondering how he didn't know that. John nodded and looked back up at me.

"I like a challenge." He said with a smile. My eyes grew wide and I tried to dodge him but was to slow. He picked me up and slung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes (again!) and walked upstairs. I was a very squirmy potato sack and I kicked a lot but it got me absolutly nowhere.

"Pete, I think we should make her stay in one of the back rooms; hers has a lot of stuff to entertain her."

"That's a great idea and we'd better take her knives so picking the lock will be a little bit harder." Pete said in response. They but me in the very back room and it was completely and utterly bare, there wasn't even a light fixture. I gave them eight of my knives from various pockets, my hair, shoes, and straps on my shoulders and legs. John counted them and then stuck his hand down -I am not telling you where- and I squealed very loudly. He pulled out my last knife and looked me in the eye.

"Is that all?" He asked and I nodded glaring at him. "If I were to check you I wouldn't find anymore?" I nodded again. He looked a little unsure but, thankfully, didn't check and left the room. Pete shut the door behind him, making sure it was locked, and walked away. I sat down and let out a giant, irritated sigh. I looked at the window, but knew Pete had rigged it and besides it was stuck (I'd checked when looking for an escape route.). I sat on the floor with my head in my hands wishing I'd never heard Elliot's name. I sat like that for hours, hungry, and unable to sleep because of the pain and thought about my situation. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Six A.M. rolled around and I felt the house come alive. About ten minutes later I heard someone walking down the hallway.

You haven't been very difficult yet." John called through the door

Shut-up." I growled in reply. John just laughed and left. I listened to everything around me taking it all in and concentrating. I smiled. I still had my bobby pins. Listening I heard the clatter of breakfast and went to pick the lock. I had the perfect cover sound. In seconds I was in my room and almost laughed, it was too easy. I grabbed my ipod and a knife. I was back in the room I was to be occupying before the minute was up.

It was just a game and I was going to play, my way. Taking time to warm up and prepare myself I danced a little to test the sound of the boards. I was an exquisite dancer of every kind and an amazing singer. If it was considered dance or singing I could do better than anyone else. They were skills I loved and very few knew about them, John included.

I danced quietly at first, humming a tune or beat, but then in got boring. I pulled off my T-shirt (I was wearing a cammie underneath.) and took off my shoes, but left on my socks to make it easier to slide. I hid my bobby pins among the base boards to make sure John or Pete didn't take them and hid my knife in the sole of one of my boots.

I turned on my ipod and found a nice tune, a sappy soft one. I increased the volume and began to dance, a smile plastered to my face, I started to sing.

* * *

Music resounded through out the house making John jump. "What the –" He began but Pete shushed him.

"Listen." Pete said in awe. Then John heard it. It was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. No human being could have made such an amazing sound. "Is that Ro?" He asked in wonder.

"I have no idea." Pete said stunned. They went upstairs and headed towards the back room.

* * *

When I felt rather than heard them coming up I stopped singing. I wanted them to wonder. They unlocked the door and walked in only to see me twirling and practicing pointing my toes. I continued dancing as if unaware of their presence and started to dance more elaborately. I twirled, jumped, glided, and flipped. They must have come out of their shock because John turned off my music before I was finished. I stopped immediately and turned towards them annoyed.

"Why did you turn off my music?" I asked hands on my hips. "I'm trying to dance."

"How on earth did you get this?" John thundered holding up my ipod.

"John, the lock's been tampered with." Pete said examining the lock. John looked at my and closed his eyes. I cocked an eyebrow and wore a smile of triumph.

"Difficult, yet?" I asked.

"You picked the lock." John said slowly anger ringing in his voice. "How?"

"Looks like a bobby pin." Pete answered for me. John closed his eyes again.

"Didn't think of that now did you." I said with pride. John just ignored me.

"Pete check shoes and along the base boards. I'll check her hair." He said and stepped towards me. I stepped back but John was faster than me. I struggled a little but not much. I didn't have any bobby pins in my hair but I never let anyone touch my braid.

"Stop. I'll take it out." I cried in desperation as he took out my bottom ponytail holder. He pretended not to hear me and proceeded to take out my braid. I struggled but I didn't call him any names (I wasn't that stupid.). When he'd finished checking (messing up) my hair Pete had finished checking the base boards. I counted the bobby pins and saw he'd gotten them all.

"I checked her shoes and didn't find anything." Pete said handing the pins to John.

"Did you check the soles?" John asked in return. Pete gave him a funny and and said that he hadn't thought of that. John walked over to my boots and hit the soles against the floor. The one with the knife popped open and John took it out. He returned to me and held the knife out in front of my face.

"Do you see this?" He asked like I was retarded. I nodded. "What is it?"

"A knife." I told him, speaking like he was a four year old.

"How long have you had it with you?"

"I got it when I got my ipod." I said looking him in the eye. Then he said something that took my breath away.

"I don't believe you." I gasped, shocked.

"What?" I asked quietly not believing he'd just said that.

"I don't believe you." He said simply. "I don't believe that you got this when you got your ipod."

"But, I did!" I said indignantly. "I gave all nine of my knives that I was carrying last night. Well I gave you eight and you took the last one."

"How do I know that? How can I trust you? You skip school, sneak out, get into fights, and constantly disobey me. All good reasons why I shouldn't trust you." He said. I looked at him in disbelief. "Give me one reason why I should trust you."

"John, I do all of that stuff because I have to, but I would never lie to you." I said truly hurt.

"How do I know that? I do I know that you're not lying to me right now?" John asked his hands in the air. I snapped. I seized my ponytail holders and put my hair up. Then I took the knife out of John's hand and threw it on the ground. I stomped on it in and screamed in frustration.

"Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!" I shouted at them furiously. They didn't leave at first and I punched a hole in the wall to keep from hitting them. They left quickly after that, and I slammed the door shut after them. I screamed and I screamed and I screamed. I screamed until my throat was too hoarse to make a sound. I didn't punch any more holes in the wall but I really wanted to. I was so angry! How could he not trust me? I was the one with reason why not to trust him.

I looked out of the window and made up my mind. I got stronger. I would go to that meeting between John and Daddy. This was war. I did a handstand and began to do push ups. I strengthened my mind and body. I was going to be prepared for anything. No matter how tired I got I kept going, I sharpened my skills and practiced patience. I was going to win.

Dinner rolled around and I was starving (I hadn't eaten since yesterday morning) but I kept going. I heard a knock on the door and stopped. "What?" I asked harshly.

"Dinner's ready." Pete called through the door.

"I'm not hungry." I lied but I didn't want to be in the same room as John, I didn't want to see him ever again.

"Honey, you have to eat." Pete pleaded.

"I told you, I'm not hungry." I replied and I heard him leave.

* * *

He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. John looked up at him hopefully but he just shook his head, she wasn't going to eat dinner. John sighed.

"I think I really screwed up this time." John said with a shake of his head.

"I know you have, and you're going to have to fix everything if you ever want her to forgive you." Pete said preparing Ro a plate.

"Why are you making another plate?" John asked curiously.

"Ro can say she's not hungry all she wants but she hasn't eaten since yesterday morning. I would offer to let you take this up to her but it'd probably make things worse." Pete went upstairs again and walked to the back room. He opened the door and walked in.

* * *

I'd started doing handstand push ups when I heard someone coming up the stairs again. Listening carefully I realized it was only Pete and continued what I was doing. He paused outside me door then walked in. I pushed off the floor with my hands and lightly landed on my feet. I saw he had food but didn't say anything. He handed me the plate and glass of sweet tea and turned to leave.

"Thank you." I called before he'd shut the door all the way. He paused and turned back to me.

"You're welcome." He replied with a small smile. I smiled back and he left. The moment the door shut all the way I fell upon the food, literally shoving it down my throat. I didn't even pause to find out what it was but I slowed down to drink my tea. Pete made sweet tea the right way, with sugar, not like any of them Yankees. I breathed a sigh of satisfaction when I finished. I was completely full and I felt better. I closed my eyes and fell into a well deserved slumber.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

He woke up in a cold sweat shivering. He couldn't even remember what He'd dreamed about. Oh well he thought. He got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He splashed some water on his face and looked in the mirror. He sighed. Unable to go back to sleep he walked around the house. When he passed Ro's room he saw it was empty. He frowned then remembered. He walked to the room he hoped Ro was still in and opened the door. He cautiously entered and saw her sleeping on the floor. Might as well put her in her own bed he thought and tiptoed towards her.

* * *

My eyes snapped open and I lashed out, making contact. I heard a thud and pounced. Whipping out my knife I held it against the intruder's neck. Pete's eyes grew huge and mine did the same. I leaped off and backed up against the wall. Pete was rubbing his neck and backing away.

"Well I certainly didn't see that coming." He said looking at me nervously. Then John showed up on the scene clad in only a pair of shorts that showed off his impressive muscles. I bared my teeth at him.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep and walked around. Noticing that Ro was still in here I was going to put her in her room, but she woke up and," He seemed to be trying to find the right word."Attacked." Pete answered him. John looked at me and I bared my teeth menacingly at him again.

"Oh. I thought it was something serious." He said with a sigh. "Everybody just go back bed." Pete got up and was about to leave when he turned around.

"Come on Ro." he said gesturing for me to leave. I shook my head and moved to the middle of the room.

"I want to stay in here tonight." I said lying down on the floor. John and Pete both gave me funny looks but I ignored them, I was thinking. They closed the door behind them and I got up. I move to the window and looked out. I saw the activity of the city and wished I was back home. It was so beautiful there. Trees swaying in the breeze, making the music of the night. The city made a music too, but it was different, less peaceful. "Why God? Why me?" I asked to the midnight sky. Questioning the only truth I had left in my life I went and laid back down the floor. My life was just a jumble of puzzle pieces, and I didn't know what the it was supposed to look like when it was finished. I laid there thinking, lost, and above the clouds. I set my internal clock to five A.M. and closed my eyes.

I woke up at excatly five A.M. as I knew I would and went to change clothes. Freshly changed I rerturned to the back room. I started off doing handstand push ups, then moved to regular push ups. After doing some one handed push ups I did my special workout routine and finished on crunches. When I was finally done it was six A.M. I could feel the house waking up. I laid back down on the floor and fell asleep. Some things were better left unknown.

I heard Pete and John wake up and I felt them walk around. I heard them both take a shower and I heard Pete check up on me. But then something stange happened. I heard Pete leave but then he came back with John. They started whispering.

"Wasn't she wearing navy sweats and a purple cammie yesterday?" Pete asked John. I intended for this to happen but not so soon.

"Yea, but when did she change?" John asked in return.

"I don't know I didn't hear anything earlier." Pete answered. I almost smiled, most people can't hear in their sleep.

"Time to find out." John said and walked over to me. He then proceeded to kick me awake. I let the first kick land and caught the second. I twisted John's foot and he flipped but managed to have a somewhat graceful landing (not falling on his face.). I stood up, flipped my hair, and walked out leaving everyone speechless. I'm unpredictable.

I slid down the banister and went into the kitchen more alive than ever before. I might lose the game they called life, but I wasn't going down without a fight. I heard Pete and John bolt down the stairs. I laughed at the surprise that showed on their faces. The meeting that determined mine and John's fate was one night away so I was going to have fun until then.

I skipped out of the room and John tried to grab me but I was slippery. I ran around the house teasing them as they tried to catch me and failed. The chase became boring after ten minutes and I collapsed onto the couch laughing. John pinned me down but I didn't care. I was laughing too hard.

My laughing died down and I became aware of my situation. I knew attempting to escape would be useless so I didn't even try. I could see that John was angry but I couldn't have been serious if my life had depended on it. Strangely I wasn't afraid. Of anything right then, not John, Pete, Daddy, dying, anything. I felt invincible. I shouldn't have, but it felt good to be carefree. Even if I was caught and in trouble. John and Pete could do whatever they wanted, but nothing could ruin my joyous mood.

Things had changed.

"Rose!" John shouted as he shook me. Awaking me from my daydreaming.

"What?" I yelled in reply.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked angrily.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with me. But you I can't grantee." I answered with a giggle.

My reply mad John angrier. "Do you want to be grounded for the rest of your life?"

"You can do whatever you want but you can't stop me. I'm unstoppable. I'm the one car on the track you can't catch." I said, enjoying watching his anger turn into rage. Then his face cleared and he looked at me calmly.

"I didn't want to do this but you left me no choice."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, butterflies forming in my stomach. "Do what?" He didn't do anything I thought he might do; he just placed his hand on my stomach. Then he began to press downward. It was uncomfortable at first, and I didn't understand what he was doing. I had felt the pain at first but I hadn't comprehended it until then. I struggled a little bit as the pain finally registered in my brain.

"John stop it. That hurts." I whimpered.

"It's supposed to." John replied, and he pressed down even harder. Unable to stop myself a small cry escaped my lips.

"Please, stop it." I begged John, and I struggled harder.

"Do not struggle." John responded. "Struggling will only make it worse." With that said he pressed down harder. New flashes of pain seared through my body, and a cry escaped by lips again, this time louder. I told myself not to struggle, but my body was disobedient and lashed out a few times.

This punishment lasted only a few minutes, but to me it felt like hours. When it was over John let go of me and helped me to my feet. Then he gently hugged me as I regained enough control over myself so I wouldn't punch him in the stomach. My joyous mood returned after a few minutes and I was soon running and skipping again.

I may fall but eventually I will stand again. I always get back up. It's a part of who I am. I moved on, never looking back. But something kept me lingering in the past. I saw John over and over, and I realized something. I was beginning to see John's dark side. A side of him I had hoped he didn't have.

I went into my not so secret room behind my closet and sat down at the computer. I researched Daddy and John. There wasn't much. I thought about John and how, if he was, he had become a traitor; one of them. He had never hated me or even been cruel. Sometimes he was mean, but he grew up too fast, and he wasn't perfect. Nobody is.

I sat there thinking until my brain was too tired. I left (With John and Pete's permission this time.), and went to a little cafe. I bought a cup of coffee and daydreamed a little. I imagined a world where everyone was equal, happy, content with what they had, safe. Safe, something I would never be. I sighed and shook my head at such an absurd dream. There will never be a time on this earth where everyone's happy or equal, and especially not safe. I wondered, lost in my own world. In my own world life was peaceful.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry but this story is currently on hold while I rewrite and edit. Sorry. :(


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